Read Online Before Wings by Beth Goobie - Free Book Online Page A

photograph could have been from her classes at school. Swimsuits hadn’t changed that much since the ‘70s, and neither had hairstyles. She wondered where they had come from, what they had returned to after their weekat camp. Had Camp Lakeshore changed their lives, brought the shy ones out of their shells and taught the arrogant ones a lesson? Had they all made wishes at the Wishing Tree and had their wishes come true? They would be adults now, old enough to be her mother. How many of their children had experienced a brain aneurysm? Had any of them died?
    It was Friday morning, the last day of Training Session. Adrien was alone in the cabin, sitting on her bed, skipping yet another staff activity. The only workshops she had attended all week had been led by Aunt Erin, Guy or Gwen, because they were the only instructors who would have noticed or cared about her absence. The lesson she was currently skipping dealt with wilderness camping, and was full of exciting scenarios such as where to set a tent on the side of a hill in a swarm of soldier ants with a storm brewing. After lunch, Connor would be leading a session on staff morale. Adrien had seen the list of exercises on Aunt Erin’s desk. The first one involved standing on a fence post and falling backwards into the arms of fellow staff. Bonding was supposed to occur if they caught and cradled you. Fat chance she was showing up for that one.
    Paul hadn’t spoken to her since her killer comment about his attitude problem. Every time he saw her, a dark mood swallowed his face and he turned away. The guy could sure hold a grudge—her nic fits were driving her up a wall.
    Darcie spoke to her only in passing. Adrien had woken several times in the middle of the night to see her roommate heading out or coming back in, but she didn’t ask questions and Darcie didn’t discuss anything. If staff looked suspiciously hungover in the morning, Aunt Erin didn’t mention it. Maybe she’s used to it , Adrien thought. Maybe she always let them party hearty during Training Session . Tomorrow, staff got the day off, and on Sunday the first wave of campers would arrive. Aunt Erin probably realized the night frolics would eventually fizzle out from sheer exhaustion.
    Adrien was tired of trying to figure it all out. She was tired of everyone walking by with chipper smiles, tossing words at her that were supposed to matter. “Hey Grouch! How’s it going, Grouch?” No one waited for an answer, they all hurried off to another workshop, the essential training manual tucked under an arm. Hypocrites. The whole place was a scam. If she reached out and actually touched someone, the person would probably dissolve into mist and fade away.
    The only place she felt solid was standing by the lakeshore, watching the spirits. These past few days, their glow had been growing brighter. She had checked several times daily, and they were always there, floating on the water’s surface. Watching them she felt at peace, drifting in a dream as vast as the lake, listening to the thousand tiny waves of her heart.
    She leaned over the photograph, focusing on the five girls who clustered so close to Aunt Erin, they seemed like a single unit. They were the ones with the social telepathy, the girls who walked in a cabin door, scanned everyone and immediately recognized those who would become life-long friends. Until her aneurysm, Adrien had fit right in. She had never thought about the stragglers, the outsiders. Now she looked at the three girls standing back from the group.Their smiles were wistful; they weren’t so sure they were happy. Each carried a visible strike against her—two were chubby, one had braces, another wore glasses. In contrast, the girls at the center of the photograph looked as if they rode a constant ongoing laugh—if they glanced at each other the giggles would burst free, creating a separate universe to which only they belonged.
    The girl under Aunt Erin’s left arm was probably the